Whistleblower forced to resign after reporting SC officials’ ‘luxury’ spending, suit says
A former Horry County employee alleges she was forced to resign after discovering that other county employees were using government money to buy “luxury items.”
Lauren DeMasi, an ex-Horry County procurement specialist, filed a federal wrongful discharge and defamation lawsuit against Horry County and six county employees March 31, 2025. The employees are administrator Barry Spivey, Myrtle Beach International Airport director Judi Olmstead, human resources assistant director Katie Badgett, procurement director Tammy Stevens, former procurement specialist April Kelly and current procurement specialist Tara Chestnut-Smith.
Horry County spokesperson Mikayla Moskov said the county does not comment on pending litigation in a text to The Sun News.
The lawsuit states while going over spending spreadsheets in late May or early June 2024, DeMasi found a number of purchases sent to employees’ homes, which were made using a county card. Purchases included golf equipment, TVs and other “luxury items.” It’s unclear how much was spent and who made the purchases.
“In Plaintiff’s experience, there would not be an approved reason for Defendant Horry County’s public funds to be used to purchase golf equipment or luxury goods for Defendant Horry County’s employees outside the normal procurement process,” the lawsuit said.
DeMasi discussed her findings at a June 4 team meeting with Horry County Director of Procurement Kimberly Massie, Horry County Procurement Deputy Director Jessica Williams and Chestnut-Smith. DeMasi, Williams and Massie considered bringing findings to the United States Department of Justice, as they worried the case would be “swept under the rug” if brought to Horry County, the suit said.
On June 10 and June 13, Williams and Massie presented their concerns about inappropriate government spending to higher-ups within the county and were then terminated on June 13, 2024, the lawsuit stated.
The following Monday, DeMasi filed complaints about Chestnut-Smith and Stevens. The complaints stated they called other employees to ask for help in terminating Massie, Williams, and DeMasi, listening to confidential meetings, “behaving belligerently at a work conference,” and their overall behavior after the termination of Williams and Massie, according to the suit.
The day after making the complaint, human resources asked DeMasi to meet at the end of the work day. At said meeting, Badgett asked DeMasi to either resign or be terminated for causing “disharmony” in the workplace and for lying about the phone calls. Badgett and Stevens said employees had denied receiving the aforementioned calls.
During the meeting, Badgett said DeMasi could resign and earn unemployment benefits, which is a lie, the suit said. She resigned and later learned she would only receive unemployment benefits if she was fired without cause, the lawsuit said.
DeMasi told her coworkers she had been forced to resign and they responded with shock, the suit claims.
“They openly shared that they absolutely had the phone calls Plaintiff had been accused of lying about and that no one had asked them if the calls occurred,” the lawsuit said.
DeMasi believes Horry County fired her and her two coworkers to cover up their mismanagement of funds. After the three left the county, Badgett began saying DeMasi and her former boss were in a cult.
DeMasi is suing Horry County for wrongful discharge and violating the South Carolina Whistleblower Act, Badget for defamation, the six employees for civil conspiracy and violating the first and 14th amendments. DeMasi requested a jury trial and an award of an undetermined amount of actual damages
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 12:14 PM.
